Racing
by PEANUT v1.2
Summary: Sora and his friends have a normal life, but one day when Sora's racing in a motorcycle race, their lives become exciting again. SoKai Oneshot


**A/N: Hey there everyone, it's been a while since I did a oneshot. =) I found this in word and was pleasantly surprised when I thought of how I could do this. I pretty much wrote all of it in one day, but I think that it turned out excellent. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts related, unfortunately. =/ **

Racing

Only ten miles left. That was all that was on Sora's mind as he raced through the city streets on a motorcycle. It reminded him of his days with Tron, where he had to ride the bike and defeat Heartless at the same time. Needless to say, racing this bike was much easier than the multitasking he had been forced to do before.

Why was he racing? Surprisingly, it was just for fun. He had moved to a city after his journeys, along with Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Riku, and a few other childhood friends. A few months after being there, he had seen an advertisement for a race with some big prize money. However, he wasn't in it for the money—He just wanted some excitement in his life again.

He gripped the handlebars more tightly, going through a tight turn as he saw another mile-marker. Nine miles remaining.

Life may not have been exciting, but things were still pretty good. He loved hanging out with his friends, living "normal" lives. Okay, so maybe it didn't quite count as normal, since he, Riku, and Roxas had random Keyblade duels for fun every once in a while. No other teenagers could do that, obviously.

As much as he enjoyed time with Riku and Roxas, he really loved the time he spent with Kairi. They were best friends, and they were as close to each other as Sora was to Roxas, if that was possible. He supposed it was different because of them being the opposite genders, but still, that was the best comparison he could come up with.

Oh, and the fact that he was madly in love with Kairi made a difference too. He had been in love with her since the first time he saw her, but he had never had the courage to tell her. Besides, why risk such a great friendship? He didn't want to lose Kairi over something so stupid. So he would force himself to be content with the friendship they had, and expect nothing more.

He made another turn, passing by another mile-marker. Eight miles remained. Now it was time to get serious about all of this. He was in third place, and if it was possible, he wanted to win. His friends were all waiting somewhere along the track, and he wanted to make them proud. And maybe show off for Kairi, too.

All together, there were thirty drivers in the race. Only five of them had dropped out due to minor crashes or problems with their bikes. He was fortunate he was at the front; hardly anything exciting happened up here when it came to crashes.

Sora instinctively gripped the right handlebar more rightly as he make a left turn, his eyes widening behind the glass of his helmet when he saw another cycle. _Yes!_ he internally screamed, overjoyed at the site of his next competitor. He had a chance to pass him, and then first place couldn't be that far ahead. He smirked in anticipation and leaned forward on the bike more than he already was, speeding ahead and into another turn.

Mile marker seven flew by his view, the teen focusing on the racer in front of him. He had come much closer in the past mile, using his speedy bike as an advantage. They rounded a tight corner side-by-side, Sora taking the inside of the turn. He passed by without a problem, leaving his opponent in the dust. The crowd along the track cheered for him, but his focus was elsewhere.

Only six more miles remained by the time he was past the person now in 3rd place and had firmly secured his position. First place was in his sight, but he would be tough to pass. His name was Jet, and he was known throughout the league as a dirty racer. Despite that, he often won due to pure skill. He was very good at what he did, even if he sometimes roughed up other bikers too much.

Sora knew that he only had one chance to pass him: the zig-zag at the four-mile marker. His motorcycle was excellent at handling turns. It was his only hope. He briefly thought of the fact that most of the people gathered there to watch, and his friends were probably among that crowd. His mindset was completely on the race now; romance could wait.

He spent the next two miles playing catch-up, taking turns with skill that only an experienced biker could muster. Jet would have to fight hard if he wasn't going to let Sora pass him. Of course, Sora wasn't planning on giving him a chance to react. He was going to go right by in one of the turns, before anything could go down. Despite the fact that he was in a padded suit and hard helmet, things could still get ugly.

Sora looked ahead on the track, seeing three familiar things in his sight.

First was the four-mile marker.

Second was the zig-zag, the infamous part of the track that often caused racers to wreck.

Third was that in the crowd, a redhead was standing by the front. Kairi was there, as were Roxas, Naminé, and Riku. He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and looked away from them, his eyes on Jet. It was now or never; do or die. From past experience, they all knew that he didn't die easily.

He went into the first turn alongside Jet, the crowd cheering and hollering for him to completely beat him. But he couldn't do it. They turned together to the left, Jet on the inside of the turn this time. It was dead even.

Then they came to the last turn. He held his breath in anticipation, taking the inside shorter way to beat Jet. Just when he thought he had him beat, he felt his bike begin to shake. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Jet had turned his bike slightly so that his back tire hit Sora's. The brunet grunted and tried to control his cycle, but Jet turned his bike sharply all of a sudden, riding Sora into the wall. He gasped in surprised, his grip on the bike failing him. He lost his balance when the back tire hit the concrete barrier, the bike somehow coming out from underneath him.

There were only a few things he was aware of. Three things, just like before.

One was that Jet had passed him and kept going as if he were unaffected by anything that had just happened.

Two was that he hit the ground hard, rolling on his side a few times before his helmeted head hit the concrete wall.

Three was that among the dizzying, overwhelming pain he felt all of his body, he heard a voice cry out to him.

"**Sora!" **

Whatever happened next was total chaos. Racing Officials quickly ran onto the track while he lay on his stomach, arm bent crookedly to his side. Others ran to the front of the zig-zags and put up barriers, directing the remaining racers through another portion of the track that would avoid this section.

Apparently, everyone figured he wouldn't be getting up and walking away from this one. Oh, how he wanted to prove them wrong! _Things weren't supposed to turn out like this, _he thought, pain keeping him from thinking clearly_. I was supposed to win! Jet wasn't supposed to risk his own safety by pulling such a dangerous stunt. And Kairi wasn't supposed to see me get hurt. _

He groaned behind the glass of his helmet and rolled himself over onto his back, a sharp cry leaving his lips when he was momentarily on his right arm.

"Sora!" the voice cried out again.

The Keyblade wielder finally opened his eyes, his bright blue eyes finding the sky. Around him, things began to clear, his sight returning to normal and the volume of things increasing to the level they were naturally at. He winced and lifted his head, ignoring the pain in his arm when he used both hands to pull off the helmet.

The sound of sirens entered his ears, the sounds no longer being impeded by the thick helmet. The officials weren't by him; medical help was probably further back, with the majority of the other racers. He had been ahead of most of the pack, though now he was wishing he wasn't. The win wasn't worth this kind of pain. It was excruciating.

"Sora!" The brunet shut his eyes tightly at the pain, the voice finally being recognized. Kairi. And it was coming from very close by. He opened his eyes when he heard four pairs of feet come towards him, surprised when they were his friends. He looked at all of them, but somehow his pained eyes stayed on Kairi, and hers stayed on him.

Kairi bent down by his head, the others kneeling down around him. She naturally sat on her knees and gently lifted Sora's head into her lap, which made him wince and shut his eyes tightly.

"That hurts," he mumbled incoherently. The pained expression on his face spoke for itself though, saying that he had hit that wall pretty hard. And the pavement too, for that matter. He momentarily wondered where Jet was and if he had won the race yet, but then he chased the thoughts away. It didn't make any difference now.

He reopened his eyes and saw something he had failed to notice before: men in uniforms with fire extinguishers, putting out something that had set on fire. His motorcycle. His eyes widened with recognition. That could have ended very badly if he had been able to hold onto his bike. It was probably better he had lost his grip and flown through the air. He would have rather done neither, but that wish didn't change the circumstances around him.

"Sora, say something," Riku said, concern evident in his voice. The brunet switched his gaze to the silver-haired teen, his eyes showing that he was still aware of what was going on around him.

"….Wow," he finally said, referring to the bike. He still couldn't believe that the wreck had been that bad…How had Jet managed to get away unscathed? He looked over at the bike momentarily, but then he looked over at Riku, Roxas, and Naminé, the three of them in his view. "What happened to Jet?"

"You didn't see it?" Roxas asked, arching a brow in surprised.

Sora shook his head faintly in Kairi's lap, though he immediately regretted the pain it caused. "What happened?" he asked again, looking around a little bit.

"He crashed up ahead," Naminé informed him softly, her eyes looking past him and Kairi to the end of the zigzag behind him. "He's being loaded into an ambulance now."

"How are **you**?" Riku inquired, changing the subject before Sora could ask any more questions. He needed to be concerned about himself now, not some jerk. For the record, Riku believed Jet deserved his crash for what he did to Sora. It felt like fate had served them justice for the wrong done to Sora.

"I'm in pain," he confessed, voice tight. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt Kairi lift a hand to his hair, the redhead running her fingers lightly over his forehead. He released a soft breath and let his head completely rest on Kairi's lap, his eyes shutting in both comfort and in pain. He turned his head slightly and felt himself drifting, darkness clouding his mind after a few moments of silence.

"Sora? Sora?" He heard the voices cry out to him, but he couldn't respond.

"Medic!" Roxas cried, rushing over toward some EMT's. "Help! Sora's going under…"

That was all he heard before everything went completely black.

The next that Sora heard was muffled. It was so unclear to him, that he couldn't even begin to decipher what they were saying. He exhaled a breath and turned his head, feeling something soft underneath his skull. A pillow? And it felt as if something lay over his body. A sheet?

He groggily brought his left hand to his face, wiping away some of the brown spikes that had been down in his eyes. Then he slowly opened his eyes, a surprising site greeting him; he wasn't on the track anymore—he was in the hospital.

"You're awake," a soft voice said from beside the bed.

Sora turned to look at the source, his tired eyes finding the girl he loved. "Yeah," he managed to say, still trying to get rid of his sleepiness. He started to wonder where his other friends were, since he had heard them all speaking a minute ago.

"Everyone's waiting outside," Kairi informed him, still speaking softly. "As soon as they saw you coming out of it, they left so we could be alone."

The brunet nodded, though he was still confused. Why'd everyone leave them alone? They knew that he had a crush on Kairi, but still, did Kairi feel the same? Why else would they leave him alone with her? That was the only thing that made sense to him at that time, but he also factored in that he wasn't quite thinking as logically as he normally was, since his head was pounding.

"How are you feeling?" Kairi whispered, looking at him intently. Sora blinked and held her gaze, the softness in her eyes matching his.

"I'm okay," he whispered back. Truly, he was. Only his head seemed to be bothering him at the moment. Well, physically, anyway. He couldn't see Kairi's eyes completely behind her bangs, and that was something he wanted to change. He lifted his right hand to move the bangs out of the way, but he was distracted when he saw he had on a blue cast. His gaze drifted to that, his eyes wider than usual due to surprise.

"You broke your arm during the crash, Sora. Your ribs are bruised too, and you hit your head, but it's nothing too serious. "

"….What….happened?" he asked hesitantly, setting his arm back by his side. He returned his gaze to Kairi, his eyes locking with hers for a moment. The details of the accident were a bit fuzzy, probably because of that hit to the head.

Kairi brought up a hand and tucked back some hair, also bringing the bangs out of her eyes for the most part. She looked like she didn't want to say, but she wouldn't keep the truth from him. "After Jet hit you with his bike and yours hit the wall, one of the handlebars caught onto a crack in the wall. The bike came out from under you, but you held on for a second longer with your left hand, so you flew off more to the side than forward. You rolled a little bit and then hit your head against the barrier." She bit her lip and looked away, which made Sora's eyes soften further. He should have asked that question to Riku or Roxas, not Kairi.

"I'm okay, though, Kai," he said softly. He reached for her hand, which was sitting on the bed nearby. He lightly gripped it, his eyes darting down to that for one moment before he found her eyes again.

"I know," she said quickly, giving him a quick smile. But the smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared, tears replacing it.

"Kai…" Sora frowned, but it wasn't in anger. It was in sadness, for he hated putting Kairi in such positions. He had made it his mission to always make her happy, but this time, he had done the opposite. Definitely not on purpose, but the result was the same.

Kairi surprised him and got up from her chair and sat herself down on the bed beside him. Obviously she wanted to be closer, and just the thought of this made his heart race. However, the words that left his lips made him sound very calm and contained. "Lean back," he said softly, scooting over to the other side slightly so that she would have more room. He also propped up the pillows so they were sitting up more. Kairi obeyed his request and he sat right next to her for a few moments, still holding her hand.

Sora held his breath for a moment, a thought crossing his mind: _Now or never. _He gently released her hand and brought up his arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and bringing her closer to him. She didn't resist; in fact, she seemed to move closer to him before he even completed the motion. He shut his eyes when she buried her head in his shoulder, a few sounds also entering his ears. Soft, muffled crying.

"Shhh…" He held her a little more closely, wanting to sooth her. He kept her close as she cried, every once in a while shushing her in a comforting way. He leaned his head down slightly and rested his chin atop her head, and for a long while, they sat like this.

"I w-was just, so worried…" she finally said, her breathing a bit ragged due to the crying. "I didn't know if you were alright…"

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, running his fingers over her shoulder as he held her.

She nodded slightly in his shoulder, turning her head but still keeping it against him. He lifted his chin and looked down at her, holding her gaze. It felt like an eternity of just staring at her (which he could never grow tired of) before he did something. He started leaning down slowly, and gradually, she brought her chin up towards him.

Their lips met for a moment in a kiss, that one second being enough to get Sora's heartbeat racing. Then they pulled away at the same time, though they only moved about an inch away from each other's faces.

Sora let out a few breaths, and Kairi did as well, both of them a bit surprised at how quickly things unfolded. Eventually, Sora couldn't hold back a smile. His small smile turned into a grin, a few laughs of happiness leaving him. Kairi smiled softly back at him, a giggle escaping her. He smiled and pulled her closer, her head resting on his shoulder again.

"I love you," he whispered without thought, hesitation not coming through anymore. He didn't know what this would do for their friendship, but—

"I love you too," she whispered, interrupting his thoughts. "I always have."

Sora grinned stupidly, pulling her tighter. Those were the words he had always longed to hear, and they fulfilled him in more ways than he could imagine.

_So what if we're sitting in a hospital bed and I have my arm in a cast,_ Sora thought, looking down at the redhead in his arms_. Everything is as it should be. The pain is masked by the happiness we both feel. Things are better than alright—they're great. _He paused for a moment, a single laugh leaving his lips as his next thought popped into his mind.

_Thank you, Jet, for totaling my bike and sending me to the hospital. I really did come out of this a winner. _


End file.
